So I had a Day Off Today

So today was my day off.

HAHAHAHHHAHHHA


Sorry, had to get that out of my system. People who are stupid enough to own businesses don't get days off in the middle of the week. Silly me.

I looked at locations from which to launch a smallish factory. Found one, for a lovely price. Needs a bit of work, but what doesn't?

Also heard from several distributors and a university who are going to carry my product.

(Dear me mother, I've officially gone into Trade! What would Fitzwilliam think of me????)

Which of course means I'm going to rule the world.

You may not know this, but secret messages (written backward in latin, no less) are encoded my blog. World taking-type messages. I'd tell you, but then they wouldn't be a secret.

Okay... I'll tell you one: It says.... never mind.

So where was I? Oh yes, I worked 10 hours. And not 10 hours-but-I'm-secretly-surfing-the-net-and-chatting kind of hours either.

Good thing it was my day off.

Oh and had a huge order come in right as I was finishing and starting to make dinner.

Which means several more hours of work in addition to the ones I already had planned for tomorrow.

I've had a few weeks of this, btw.


So now you know where I've been and why there's been no updates.

Anyone want to buy a small manufacturing firm for several million dollars?

Fun with Raw Foods: Berry Sorbet and Lime Daquari Sherbert

Have I mentioned lately how hot it is?? So hot. Soooo hot. Too hot to do anything hot. Well, to do anything but make lots and lots of frozen goodies. I've come up with two more icy treats to tempt your tastebuds... Berry Sorbet and Daquari Ice Lime Sherbet. Take a moment, wipe your mouth, and print out these recipes to try:


Mixed Berry Sorbet
2 quarts assorted mixed berries
3/4 c agave OR 1 Tbsp Stevia w/Inulin
Water

Blend Berries and Agave or stevia. Add enough water to make 1 1/2 quarts.

Pour into Ice Cream Maker and Freeze.

Daquari Ice Lime Sherbet
Zest of two limes
1 cup agave nectar
2/3 c freshly squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 c water
1c fresh nutmilk
3 Tbsp Rum OR 1 tsp rum extract

Blend all ingredients together and freeze in Ice cream maker.

Pizza Night at the Poes

We have a semi-regular pizza night (semi, because in the summer it's usually too danged hot to cook), where I set out all kinds of colourful veggies and toppings and just let the kids go wild building the pizza of their dreams. Usually I have to yell at them to stop hogging up all the toppings, because they like to pile theirs somewhere in the 2-3 inch category, leaving cheese for the rest of us. Fortunately for me, mozzarella still does okay for me. Unfortunately for them... I want my stinkin' toppings!

Something I like to do, to make things easier, is to make pizza crusts in individual sizes and freeze them in a stack. Then I can just thaw out what I want, build my pizza, and pop it into the oven. If I'm feeling really rushed, I'll pull out a pre-built pizza and cook it from frozen. My recipes for pizza crust (BOTH normal GF pizza crusts and Better Batter Flour Pizza Crusts) and full techniques and instructions for making pizza and crusts ahead, with every variation you can think of is on my regular GF, sadly neglected, blog.

This particular night, I was also experiementing with RAW food, and I tried a dehydrated pizza recipe from one of my favorite raw foods cookbooks, the Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine Book.

Okay, Let me just say... this was possibly the worst pizza I've had in my life. Bad enough not to give you the recipe... The toppings were pretty good (I picked them off and ate them), but the crust was like a huge, thick slab of pesto-flavoured nut-butter. It was rough, I tell you. ROugh Rough. Make-something-else-to-eat rough.

Fortunately, I'd grabbed a bunch of toppings from my sons (eggplant, onion, green pepper, tomato, chantarelle mushrooms, shaved brazil nuts, black olives, basil) and was able to peg together a Pizza Salad.

Pizza salad is essentially all those ingredients in a nice italian vinagarette, especially heavy on the fresh oregano. Even better after it's marinated for several hours. I ate this for two days.

As for the rest of the family, they had a really great time chowing down on real, cooked, hot pizza.

If you're inclined to make pizza, feel free to follow my basic directions on my blog.

Add whatever toppings you desire, and it's pizza heaven! The pictured pizza below had artichoke hearts, fresh bufaletta mozzarella, black olives, green peppers, chantarelle mushrooms, thinly sliced fresh heirloom tomatoes, and minced onions-n-garlic, oregano, and basil. Like Pizza Hut, only scads better for you!

Fun with Raw Foods: Mock Fish Sticks...Because I'm on a Nori kick

I'm trying all kinds of fun and exciting ways of using (read: hiding) everyone's favorite (or least favorite), ubiquitous summer veggie.... and this one is , to say the least, a very original idea.

I got the original idea, for mock fish sticks from a fabulous forum that I've been lurking in ... The Raw Freedom Community.

There was a great looking recipe for mock fish stick, but of course, me being me, I couldn't leave it alone, and this is the result. Be warned: This recipe take a good bit of work, and a loooooong time to dehydrate, but I have to say, it was pretty good, even by the Carnivore's standards. Which means, he'd eat them.

They're also pretty cheap.

Don't be alarmed by the amount of cayenne pepper in the receipe. It's necessary in order for your mouth to perceive 'heat' but not "hot" in the OMG I've got to have a gallon of water NOW kinda way. Even the Carnivore, who hates spicy, didn't get overheated. But, erm... if you don't believe me, feel free to halve the amount.

Mock Fish Sticks

2 cups Eggplant
4-5 cups zucchini
2 tsp finely minced onion

Raw nori sheets

Marinade:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 sheet nori, torn up
1 tsp sea salt

Batter:
2 cups raw sunflower seeds
1 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup golden flaxseeds

Cut eggplant and zucchini lengthwise into fillets about 1/3 inch thickness and soak them for at least 24 hours.

Press excess water out with a paper towel.

IN the bowl of your food processor, combine eggplant with the onion and marinade ingredients and process till smooth.

Remove to a mixing bowl. IN the food processor, chop the zuchinni until it resembles fish flakes (slightly coarse but very small.)

Mix the ingredients the eggplant mixture and the zucchini. This is your "fish" mixture.

Cut each nori sheet into quarters. Fill the nori strip with about a Tbsp of the mixture, in a long strip. Roll the nori into a cigarette shape (it will be like a 4 inch long cigarillo, actually!), and gently press the sides down.

Place the fish cigarillos on food dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 145 for 2 hours.

Remove from the dehydrator. Flatten gently with your fingers until the cigarillos turn into little rectangles that resemble....fish sticks!

In the bowl of your food processor, grind the Sunflower seeds and salt until smooth, adding water if necessary, to make a 'pancake batter' consistency.

Grind the flaxseed until it resembles a meal.

Dip the marinated, nori cigarillos in the batter and cover completely on both sides, then roll in the flaxseed, pressing to adhere.

Place on the dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 105 degrees for about 2 hours and then flip it over and dehydrate for another hour.

Extreme PB&J (peanut free)

It's hot. It's too dang hot. It's too dang, dang hot to cook. So I made an ice cream we could eat for lunch. If you really wanted to round this out, you could slather this between two slices of GF bread and freeze, or if you wanted to be eeeeeeviilllllll you could make GF cookie bars and slap it between those, and freeze.

We just eat it in a bowl because, like I said... it's too dang hot.

This ice cream is (of course *eye roll*) dairy free, boys and girls, and tastes almost exactly like peanut butter and jelly (which is weird because there's not a peanut or grape in sight... didja know grapes give me migraines, too??). It's also raw (whaddayaknow!)



Extreme PB and J Ice Cream

1 c raw cashew butter (you can make your own by processing cashews with just enough oil to flow)
1 c brazil nuts
4 c very ripe blackberries
1/2 c raw agave nectar


Optional: Keep 1 c of the berries reserved, blend into the agave nectar, and stir into the ice cream AFTER it's done, then let cure. Otherwise...

IN a blender, blend the cashew butter, brazil nuts, and blackberries till smooth. Stir in the agave nectar. Freeze per your manufacturers directions, or put in a bowl and stir every 10 minutes for 2 hours.

Fun with Raw Foods: Mock Tuna Salad

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll get around to posting the huge array of recipes I promised, But first...

You're not going to believe how good this is, and how close it tastes to real tuna fish (can anyone out there remember real tuna fish?) I mean, even if you're not a vegetarian, the thought of all that mercury and overfishing... and the cost of 'safe' tuna? *shudders* Here's a tuna salad you'll love. Don't be weirded out by all the ingredients... they all combine to make the best mock tuna ever.



Mock Tuna Salad
1 Cup Almonds (with skins, soaked and air dried)
1 Cup Raw Walnuts (soaked)
1/4 fresh lemon (and I mean ALL parts)
1/2 Tsp. Garlic (minced)
1/2 sheet Nori (NOT toasted, obviously!lol)
2 Tbs. GF Tamari or dark miso
1/4-1/2 c water
*******************************
In FP blend seeds, nuts, garlic, nori & Tamari, until the mixture resembles very dry tuna fish (I use the pulse button about 12 times. It may take more). Remove 2/3 of it and transfer to bowl. Add the lemon and water to remaining 1/3 and process until it's very smooth. Mix this into the coarser mixture.

Add:

1 pickle chopped (Bubbies pickle)
1 Tsp. Ume Plum vinegar
1/4 c Bubbies pickle juice
1 tsp. fresh Dill Weed (chopped)
1Tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)
1/4 Cup Onion (chopped)
1/4 Cup chopped Celery


Stir until mixed!

All Right.... hang on tight!

I'm going to be posting a lot of recipes tomorrow:

Vegan, Raw cheesecake (tastes like girl scout samoas, yum! at least to me)

A Pizza Recipe.

A Raw, vegan Pizza recipe review. And the really good supreme pizza salad that came out of that disaster.

A nice pepper slaw

a recipe for Extreme PB&J (you'll have to wait and see what that one is)

Chips Ideas

I've decided to make several kinds of the same dish (regular vegetarian and raw vegan) at the same time, mostly to see if it can be done (to have similar tastes with different techniques), but also because I DEFINITELY cannot have dairy (MIGRAINES!!!) ugh...the mouring ove rthe lost cheese is unbelievable.

Granted, I can have mozarella...but might as well try new things, while I can, right?

I'm also trying a new, raw, vegan Fruity Pebbles recipe, and I'll let you knwo how it goes, once it's finished dehydrating.


Dunno how long I'll be in the mood to cook this much (raw food has crazy prep times attached, in general... like 4 hours for a single pizza, ugh)


I'd post tonight, but really.... I'm toast. Too much dehydrating and cooking for one day. Seriously.
*kisses*

Fun with Raw Foods: Spaghetti Bolognese and Blackberry Sorbet

I've been so fascinated by raw foods that I've decided that I'm going to 'go raw' at least one day a week, if for no other reason than to learn new 'un'cooking techniques.

This morning I started my day with a large, beautiful bowl of summer fruit salad and a large glass of nutmilk. Somewhere in the middle of the meal I decided to dip my plums into the vanilla nutmilk -- Holy Mother of Yum! Vanilla and Plums is a great combination.

On another note: Vanilla and Mangos...not so good. *shudders at the memory of curdled nutmilk*



For lunch we went to our usual Chinese restaurant, where I feasted on watermelon and Kimchi. For those of you who don't know, Kimchi is a fermented cabbage slaw with a lot of kick (from crushed red pepper and garlic).

Of course somewhere along the line something went terribly wrong...and I got glutened (suspecting hidden soy sauce?)...I dunno. When I make kimchi I don't use soy sauce, so... it's all speculation.


For Dinner I was really in the mood for some pasta. I've read over and over again that summer squash, zucchini, and young coconut are really great for pasta, so I took one of my handy-dandy summer squashes, peeled it and then used the peeler to shave linguini noodles from the squash. This yielded about a pound of 'pasta' -- I'd probably make twice as much in the future, because you get huuuuuuungry very quickly with this kind of food.

For the sauce I used: 2 ripe tomatoes; 1/2 cup of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, pureed;
2 cloves garlic; several tbsp fresh oregano, several tbsp fresh chocolate mint; 1/2 c fresh basil; 1/2 c fresh parsley; 1 tsp sea salt; 1 small carrot; and 2/3 c nutmilk. I blended all this up.

Now you might be wondering about the mint: It adds a complexity to the dish that is welcome and makes up for the subtle 'meat' flavour you'd expect from the sauce.

Now I had a great tasting 'Bolognase'... but it was ice cold.

This is where thinking outside the box paid off for me. The theory behind raw cooking is that you really don't want to cook anything over 110 degrees (120 degrees is the max). I figured that most people don't want truly 'hot' food -- they usually wait for it to come to a comfortable temperature. All I needed to do was to get this food to a comfortable (read: warm) temperature, and it would be golden!

To do this I set my oven to 110 degrees, made up my plates, and put them in the oven till the food was warm (this took me all of 7 minutes). Bam! Instant, palatable raw food.

Another trick: add some crushed red pepper instead of 'parm.' the heat of the pepper really does fool the mouth (in the aftertaste) into thinking it's had a 'hot' meal.


Of course when you're eating this way you can really afford to do the dessert thing, so I cranked out some sorbet made from fresh, wild Blackberries that my children picked.

To Make:
1 quart fresh blackberries
1 1/2 c agave nectar

Blend the agave nectar and blackberries. Sieve out the seeds. Freeze in your ice cream freezer or, alternatively, whisk every 15 minutes for 2-3 hours in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or some airtight seal and let 'cure' at least 3 hours.

Kids love it.

Big Mouth Veggie Burgers

Okay, so I'm really, reaaallly excited about this one for so many reasons.

For one: I've found a way to hide eggplant and zucchinis (which are cloning themselves in my backyard, and apparently are the same thing in my CSA farm, which means there's entirely too much to go around. *le sigh* It's kale month all over again...).

For another: This thing tastes pretty darn close to real, and it looks pretty darn close to real, and... The Carnivore liked it. 'Nough said.


I picked up a lot of tips and tricks from my raw-foody friends and decided to use them in the making of these burgers. The whole dehydrating thing solves a lot of the problems we Martha-Stewarts tend to have with homemade veggie burgers-- you know, too wet, too crumbly, won't stay together, gets soggy... whatever.

If you wanted to make the burger vegan, you could easily sub in flax-egg for the eggs. And, I suppose you could make this raw by simply dehydrating the things for an extra couple of hours.

Also, feel free to sub in soaked, chopped walnuts for the soy protein. (we're using up what we've got left before dropping soy)

As for me and mine, we chose to go all the way and ate these, cooked, on nice fluffy fresh GF white hamburger buns with lots of crinkle fries and some cucumbers.

One note -- the last minute frying/sauteeing in oil of these is really really key to making the mouth feel of a real burger. If you're not against cooking, please try this! Recipe instructions below:

Big Mouth Veggie Burgers

5 cups eggplant, with skins, cubed
1 large zuchinni, cubed
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic
1 healthy tsp black pepper
1tsp DRIED oregano
3 eggs
1/2 cup (generous) Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups almond-Parmesan mixture (from my other recipe)
1 cup Better Batter Gluten Free Flour (or really good GF flour with xanthan gum in it)
2 cups tvp, reconstituted with hot water

1. IN blender, grind 3 cups of the eggplant, the zuchinni, the onion, garlic, black pepepr, oregano, and Worcestershire sauce, until smooth.

2. Add the rest of the eggplant and blend until chunks the size of peas remain.

3. Add the almond parmesean mixture, flour, and tvp. Let sit for 10-30 minutes.

4. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a spoon and your hands, form the mush into burgers on the paper (this will be soupy, like soupy oatmeal).

5. Dehydrate in the oven at 110 degrees for 6-8 hours, flipping after three hours (carefully!) to ensure both sides get done.

6. Fry in oil right before serving (we like coconut oil!). Assemble burgers and eat.

Delish.

How to Do Really Good Fried Rice

Fried Rice is pretty straightforward-- take leftover rice, fry it with other leftover tidbits, and serve.

But there's a difference between fried rice you'd serve along side of a dish and fried rice you'd serve AS a dish.

This is one thing I've got down to a science. Even the Carnivore actually REQUESTS this as a main meal.

There are a few secrets to really good fried rice, and being the generous gal I am, I'll share them with you.

First, make sure you sprout your rice. This will, of course, make the rice stickier when you fry it...but it will also stick to your ribs and satisfy you. To sprout rice, just soak it in water for at least 24 hours (this is only going to work if you use a fresh, nice brown rice, not that white stuff).

Second: Make sure your rice is really stale. It helps to keep it in the fridge, uncovered, for a day or so.

Third: Essential... sesame oil (abou t1/4 tsp in your cooking oil), ginger (not powder), garlic, soy sauce/tamari (gluten free, of course!).

Fourth: Not essential, but great...1/4 tsp of saffron or american saffron added to the cooking oil.

Fifth: If you're going to add eggs, make them separately, in OIL (NOT butter)

Sixth: Peas and Carrots. Dunno why, but peas and carrots make the best fried rice. Oh...add a really finely diced onion.


Here's the basic ratios:

2 quarts stale brown rice
1/2 c coconut oil (or other oil)
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp saffron (yellow colour)
1/2 tsp ginger paste or grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
pinch salt
1 onion, minced
2-3 c mixed frozen peas and carrots
2-3 eggs, scrambled separately

sesame seeds for topping.


Fry everything and mix together. YURM

Because it's hot... Bananas Foster Ice Cream

Yeah, so that's a really zoom up of the picture. But Good Golly Miss Molly, do you see how luscious that ice cream is? And it's dairy free. I have to crow a bit because the Carnivore took a single bite and exclaimed (exclaimed, mind you!!!) "That's good!"

High praise, indeed, from the man who might possibly say "That's decent" for something utterly divine. If the Carnivore calls it good, it's really good. Company good. Forget-company-and-shag-your-wife good.

Anyway, I think you'll like this one: it's easy, quick, and as I said before, DAIRY FREE!!!! (Having such a happy summer, I am). That 50.00 ice-cream maker was soooo worth it.

Bananas Foster Ice Cream

1 Cup Nut Milk (feel free to use rice milk)
2 Cups Coconut Milk, full fat
3/4 cup agave nectar
2 tsp vanilla
3 large bananas
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c golden rum

In your blender, mix the milks, agave nectar, and vanilla. Freeze according to your manufacturer's instructions (mine takes 30 minutes), or pour into a bowl and freeze, beating every 15 minutes for three or so hours.

Clean your blender.

Place two bananas and the cinnamon and rum in the blender and blend til smooth.

Cut up the remaining banana into small dice and mix into the smooth sauce.

Remove the ice cream from the mixer and fold the banana sauce into the soft ice cream. Place in the freezer (top with an airtight seal or plastic wrap) and freeze til firm.

Homemade Magic Shell

See the incredibly guilty looking dessert on the left? That's health food, ladies and gents! I kid you not.

When I was growing up I was literally addicted to Magic Shell Topping. You remember Magic Shell, right? It was a really sweet, watery chocolate syrup that miraculously hardened on ice cream to produce a coating that was strangely reminiscent of Klondike Bars.

The taste was weird... kind of like really bad Easter candy. And that's what made it so good.

As a kid I remember sneaking into the kitchen to add extra Magic Shell to my ice cream. This degenerated into pouring Magic Shell into a spoon and freezing the spoon. Things only continued to spiral downhill from there. Somewhere along the journey, I found myself drinking the stuff from the bottle, warm... I told you I was addicted.

Anyway, since going healthy, I've religiously avoided the stuff. Avoided and missed it terribly.

Tonight the craving got too bad, so I decided to make some for my family. How hard could it be, I mused...

Magic Shell's main ingredient seems to be oil -- all kinds of scary, hydrogentated oil. Scary, hydrogenated COCONUT oil.... I wondered if I could use coconut oil (the real, unrefined, beautiful kind that I could literally eat plain) and real chocolate and achieve the same results.

Obviously you can guess from my pics that................I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!! And the best part? It's good for you. Coconut oil is a great thing to take for metabolism and general health, and darker chocolates are also supposed to be good for you... so I can rationalize this one into eternity.

The weirdest part? It tastes 'right'... guess that taste was the coconut oil all along. For those of you who are wondering, 'right' is weird at room temperature, and divine frozen.

This shell goes only satiny smooth and very thin, and freezes to a perfect shell-like finish.

Now, if only someone would stop me from drinking it from the canning jar (old habits die hard, I suppose).

Homemade Magic Shell Topping

1 cup coconut oil

about 1-2 cups semi-sweet, bittersweet, or dark chocolate chips or chunks



1. Melt the coconut oil over very low heat in a small saucepan.

2. A little at a time, whisk in the chocolate chips, until the mixture resembles very thin, chocolate syrup (those of you who've had Magic Shell know exactly what this looks like). We needed about 1 1/2 cups.


That's it! This stuff stores at room temperature. IN a cold room, make sure to heat over very low heat on the stove.

Oven Baked Chiles Rellenos

Of course pepper season is upon us, and I was really excited (and in the mood for) some serious mexicano fixin's. Chiles Rellenos is something I always order when out.... and usually find disappointing. Most of the time I get a slimy, soggy, greasy sodden mass of cheese and egg on a mush-thats-supposed-to-be-peppers.

There are exceptions. One night, coming home on a winding, mountain back road from a celiac support group that was several hours from my house, I stumbled on a little diner. I walked in, expecting to order my traditional "salad, no croutons PLEASE with a side of fries, but only if they've been in a dedicated fryer and by the way can I see the seasoning on them?" and found instead Rellenos Nirvana. I highlight the words because the food was that good.

Turns out this hole in the wall is the property of a native Mexicana and OH MY GOSH could that woman cook. Real mexican food (and gluten free???) in Pennsylvania? There is a God.

I'd try to describe the dish, but really I was in a haze of food ecstasy and only remember flashes of brilliance -- it is those flashes that I tried to recreate here.

Anywhoodles, what you need to know is that this meal was so delicious and easy that it deserves a special place in my recipe collection. Slightly softened Poblano chiles highlight fresh bean puree, seasoned with fresh herbs. Coriander provides a hidden, special flavour accent. A light batter poured on top of the chiles and baked helps lighten the dish, somewhat, before cheese and sour cream weigh it down.(Hey, they help take the heat...and the migraine...was totally worth it).

For a special flavour, try using a good Gouda cheese (like Vincent). The nutty flavour brings out the taste of the batter.

One note about chiles: Poblano, the most commonly used chiles for Rellenos
vary widely from pepper to pepper in heat. For this reason, I don't reccomend adding additional cayenne or other spicy seasonings to the dish. If you find the dish too milk for your taste, load on some hot sauce and go to town!

Feel free to use dried herbs, but remember to reduce the amount by at LEAST half.

Here's the Recipe:

Chiles Rellenos

4 Poblano Peppers (use large chiles), green peppers will do, but won't be as good
2 tbsp coconut oil
cumin

2 1/2 cups cooked or canned abichuelas rosadas (pink kidney beans)-- feel free to use any bean
Several teaspoons fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh coriander ( you can use 1/4 tsp dried)
several teaspoons fresh oregano
several teaspoons fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt ( we use sea salt)

3 eggs
3 tbsp Better Batter Gluten Free Flour

4 ounces Gouda Cheese, or feel free to use any mild, white cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
salsa

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Heat the coconut oil in a heavy saucepan. Cut the peppers in half and seed and de-vein them. Fry the peppers in the oil ONLY until the peppers blister. Sprinkle with cumin, remove from heat, and place in a casserole dish.

2. In your blender mix the beans, herbs, and salt.

3. Spoon this mixture into the peppers, filling completely.

4. Mix together the egg and flour and pour over the peppers. This will be thick. Feel free to thin it with a bit of water to preference.

5. Place casserole in the oven and cook for 15-30 minutes, or until batter sets and peppers are softened to your preference (we like them still firm...al dente).

6. Remove from oven, top with cheese, sour cream, and salsa, and serve.

Fun with Raw Foods: Nut Milk, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Ice Cream!

I've been intrigued by the whole 'raw foods' thing for a few weeks now... perhaps in direct response to the joy of eating lots of char-grilled meat. Although I don't think eating a raw-food-lifestyle will ever be for me, there are a lot of really cool recipes out there.

We've been thinking of dropping dairy for some time, now, and reading about soy recently has scared me off of soy-milk, especially for my boys. I'd decided to start subbing in non-soy alternatives when I came across some great raw-food books that had tons of recipes for nut milks.

Of course that got me thinking (the recipes seemed pretty consistent and very flexible), so I decided to try my hand at it.

Nuts, of course, can be prohibitively expensive (especially the raw organic), so I decided to sub in an equal measure of sunflower seeds for half the nuts in my nut milk recipe. The results were fabulous! This is a milk I could happily drink every day, and at 2.50 a gallon, it's really affordable. I even made chai tea with it this morning, and lurved it.

I took the nutmilk and used it (with coconut milk) to make homemade strawberry ice cream. If I dare say so, it tastes VERY close to Breyer's 'natural' strawberry ice cream, and the best part was it only took twenty minutes from top to tail! (I lurve my new ice cream maker, which requires no rock salt or ice). When I priced it out, it was WAY cheaper than the premium, organic ice cream I'd been buying (about 1/3 of the price), and (even better) it was dairy free!

I still had a ton (well, two cups) of nut fiber paste left over from making the nutmilk, so I decided to try my hand at making raw cookies, and see if it was really true that they tasted like real cookies. Instead of reading a bunch of recipes from people who, possibly, couldn't remember what a real cookie tasted like, I decided to develop my own recipe.




According to the kiddos, the flavour is great. The texture is slightly different, which is to be expected (and we probably will continue to make toll house cookies forever), but this IS a fabulous way to use up that nut fiber.

I'm including the recipes below:

Frugal Homemade Nut Milk

1 cup raw, shelled sunflower seeds
1 cup raw nuts (I used brazil nuts)
1 gallon water
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt (more or less to taste)

1. Soak the seeds and nuts in the water for 4-8 hours, or overnight.
2. Pour half of the water into a bowl, reserving it.
3. Place the remaining water and nuts into your blender, and blend on high speed for several minutes or until liquified.
4. Line a strainer with a very large nut bag (or, if you don't have one, a very large clean cloth napkin that doesn't have any kind of fabric scent or softener in it), and place over the reserved bowl of water then slowly pour the nutmilk slurry into the napkin. You may have to do this in batches. Squeeze the bag/napkin until all the liquid squeezes out. Reserve the nut fiber for recipes.
5. Season the milk with the agave nectar and vanilla, adding the salt a little at a time until the flavour you like is reached. Refrigerate up to a week. Shake well before using.

Dairy Free Strawberry Ice Cream

1 cup nutmilk
2 cups coconut milk (full fat version)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 pint strawberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch sea salt

Blend all of this together, then freeze in your ice cream maker, as per directions, or place into a large metal or glass bowl and freeze, whisking every fifteen minutes (you'll want to whisk it hard), for about 3 hours or until creamy and fozen. Transfer into a air-tight container and freeze til firm.

Raw Toll-House Cookies

2 cups nut fiber (from nutmilk)
1/2 cup nutmilk
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c walnuts

Mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined. Shae dough into cookies and place on a dehydrator. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 6-10 hours, or until 'cooked'. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Almond Crusted Zuchinni with Pasta and swiss chard

We're back from vacation, otherwise known as meat-paradise. The family came to visit, and they're on a diet which consists mostly of grilled meats and veggies, so we really indulged. It was a great vacation, but I have to admit, I think I've lost my taste for meat and potato type meals.

I was actually relieved to plan a low-meat week.

Zion, my newly six-year-old crumb-cruncher got, of course, first pick (everyone gets to eat EXACTLY what they want to eat for their birthday) of the menu. He chose:

Almond Crusted Zuchinni, using a trick I took from Seamaiden's Book of Yum

Salad
Spinach, sauteed with garlic and maple syrup (Sounds weird but it's FABULOUS. We subbed in swiss chard, because it was available)
Spaghetti with Red Sauce

Dessert: Berries with Chocolate-Amaretto Whipped cream

Surprisingly the zucchini coating, once fried, tasted exactly (to me) like fried chicken, which was unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome. I made sure not to overdo the zucchini, as I like a little more bite and a little less slime to my squash.

The swiss chard wilted into a lovely broth, made from the juices of the chard, some fresh garlic, and a judicious addition of maple syrup. The flavour was complex and satisfying, slightly salty, and altogether fabulous accompanying the meal.

The spaghetti (I chose to use Tinkyada) and sauce (Martin's store brand of organic marinara) was good, if typical, and was helped with a little sprinkling of the almond-yeast mixture, which tasted exactly like parmesean cheese (but was way cheaper than the parm I usually shill out for).

I'm posting the recipes below:

Almond Crusted Zucchini

Several Zucchini, cut into medallions (we used about a half a zucchini per person)
3 cups slivered almonds
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1 egg
olive oil and coconut oil

1. Beat the egg in a bowl. Set aside
2. In a blender, grind the almond slivers, salt, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast, until the mixture resembles parmesean cheese. Place in another bowl.
3. Heat equal measures of olive oil and coconut oil on medium high heat (about 300 degrees) in a very heavy saucepan.
4. Dip the zuchinni in the egg, then the almond crumbs pressing to make sure the coating adheres.
5. Fry in the oil, turning once, until each side is golden brown. MAKE SURE that your oil doesn't get too hot or you'll scorch your nuts!!
6. Transfer to a baking dish and cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile cook your pasta, heat your sauce, and make the chard.

Maple-Garlic Swiss Chard

2 pounds swiss chard or spinach, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
2 small cloves fresh garlic
2 Tbsp maple syrup
sprinkle of sea salt

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan, adding the chard and garlic. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the leaves begin to wilt. Add the salt and maple syrup and cook for a few more minutes. Serve immediately.

Mixed Red Berries with Chocolate-Amaretto Whipped Cream

2 pints raspberries
1 pint strawberries
1 cup whipping cream, chilled
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate
1 Tbsp amaretto liquor

1. IN a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips with the amaretto and 1/4 cup of the whipping cream. whisk well, and allow to come to room temperature.
2. Meanwhile, pour 3/4 cup of whipping cream into a mixing bowl and put in the freezer for 30 minutes, along with the beater(s)
3. Beat at high speed until soft peaks form.
4. Slice berries and place in a bowl. Top with the cream and serve immediately.

Tacos Even a Carnivore will Eat

We've tried various veggie-taco-meats over the years. The best ones were made of wheat gluten, which is a complete no-no, now, in our family. The rest were so-so or so highly seasoned that we might as well have placed whole cloves of garlic in the shell and been done with it. This is particularly problematic, since tacos is a fan favorite with the Carnivore.

A few nights ago, I randomly observed that lentils, soaked and ground, cooked into something that looked and felt remarkably like hamburger, so I decided to experiment tonight and see if I couldn't really pass them off as hamburger in taco-meat form.

I took soaked lentils, ground them in the blender with taco seasoning and garlic powder (and some salt), then fried them in oil, stirring-stirring-stirring, until they formed into 'taco meat' -- this I seasoned with the normal amount of taco seasoning, and served it without saying a word.

The Carnivore's fist question: "Why does this meat look a little different than usual?" -- He likes very fine ground beef in his tacos, and I usually make bigger chunk-style. This was finely ground. "Because it's not meat," I answered.

Now, I expected rejection immediately, so I informed the Carnivore that he had a whole pan of meat waiting (I mean, this IS his favorite meal), in case he didn't like the 'meat' -- to which he replied that he'd already tried it, and it was fine.

The Carnivore then proceeded to eat the lentil-meat, as did the little sillies, and the ground beef was picked at.

SCORE!

Here's a pic of the ground beef next to the lentil-meat: Can you tell which one is which?

This tasted wonderful, not beany at all, and it was a cinch to make. I'll have to try this technique for other dishes. Here's the recipe:

LENTIL "GROUND BEEF"

8 oz lentils, soaked overnight in 6 cups of water, then drained.
1 cup-2 c water
1 tsp garlic powder or one clove garlic
1 tsp salt
(if using for taco meat) -- 1/2 c gf taco seasoning
oil, about a cup.

Grind the lentils and seasonings in a blender using just enough water to keep the machine from burning up. The mixture should be thick, like cold cream or pudding.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot. Add the ground lentil paste and fry, stirring constantly. There should form a skin on the bottom of the pan, scrape this (this is the part of the mixture that will come to resemble ground beef). Keep frying and scraping (you can leave the mixture for several minutes to allow a crust to build up) until the mixture begins to look 'dry' and resembles cooked ground beef -- remember that this will firm up even a bit more as it cools, so leave it just slightly moist.
This took me 30 minutes on high heat.

At this point you can use it for anything calling for pre-cooked ground beef. YUM

Dhokkar dalna (Fried Lentil Cake Curry)

Tonight I again braved the world of Indian Cookery. Most Americans in my part of the country are put off by the turmeric-dependency of most "Indian" curry recipes. Growing up my image of curry was of lumps of greyish chicken drowning in a bright yellow, pasty sauce that smelled vaguely of French's Mustard.

This was die in large part to the exuberant use of commercial curry powder. Frankly, while commercial 'curry powder' may make lovely chicken salad (in tiny doses) it's really nasty for main dishes.

We've been attempting to eat more beans, and I'm assiduously avoiding simply serving them, bean-style every third day. The prior foray into Indian-inspired cooking, the chickpea-zuchinni blossom fritters, were a success, so I thought I'd try again.

This particular recipe was adapted from a traditional Indian curry, Dhokkar dalna. I altered the spices slightly to suit the Carnivore's admittedly less adventurous palate -- omitting some of the turmeric, substituting a milder paprika for the hot chilli powder called for, and reducing the amount of spices.

One thing that completely surprised me about this dish was the beautiful presentation it made on the plate. The curry in the original cookbook looked exactly like the nightmare curries of my late childhood, but this dish emerged closer in texture and colour to a stew.

This was very helpful, of course, in getting the Carnivore to eat it.

A nice side note: I've found that the practice of frying bean paste, letting it cool, and then shaping and refrying it creates a fabulous texture and appearance, similar to stew meat, and I plan to do some experimenting with more American seasonings. Another observation: the lentil paste, when fried in small pieces, resembled ground beef exceptionally well. We'll be playing with that concept later this week.

Here's the recipe. It's not a quick-cook meal, so plan to make it when you have plenty of time to devote to the kitchen. However, the taste is worth making it at least once.

Trust me, this is curry for those who hate curry:

Dhakkar dalna
(Fried Lentil-Cake Curry)

1 pound lentils, soaked overnight in 7 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp grated gingerroot (or boughten ginger paste)
6 tbsp coconut
1/4 c diced green peppers
1 1/2 c water

1 1/2 c oil, divided

5 potatoes cut into dice (about 1/2 inch dice)
2 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp butter
1 tsp Garam Masala (make sure you're buying a GF version!)

Brown short-grained rice)

Instructions

Drain the extra water out of the soaked lentils and place them into a blender. Add the salt, turmeric, gingerroot, coconut, peppers, and water, and blend until absolutely smooth.

Meanwhile heat 3/4 of a cup of the oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, pour the lentil mixture into the oil and fry, stirring, until the mixture thickens considerably and becomes somewhat cohesive.

Pour the mixture and oil into a baking sheet, smooth to an even thickness, and let cool completely.


When you are ready to eat:
Begin cooking your rice, as per package instructions.

Meanwhile heat the rest of the oil over medium-high heat in a very heavy skillet or saucepan.

Cut the lentil-paste cake into one inch squares and fry in the oil in a single layer (you'll need to do several batches), turning carefully until all sides are deeply browned. Set aside.

Place the potatoes in the same oil and fry until light golden brown and set aside.

Working quickly, in the same oil, sprinkle the bay leaves, cumin, paprika, and coriander. Add the salt and tomatoes and cook for two minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil.

Place the potatoes back into the spice mixture and cook for 5-10 minutes or until tender, then very gently add back in the fried lentil-cake cubes and heat through.

At the last minute add the butter and stir very gently. Sprinkle Garam Masala over the dish.

Serve with the rice.

Kale-Spinach Strombolli Infused with Lemon and Nutmeg

Okay, now seriously this might sound really weird to those of you who've never had to deal with five thousand pounds of kale.

But when the fresh, seasonal produce gods are attacking you, the only options are flee or adapt.

So we adapted.

And actually I think I might have found nirvana. Well, at least momentarily -- then I got indigestion from overeating and was sucked right back into the land of the living.

The Carnivore liked it. The kids overate it, too. So I'm guessing this one is a go.

This recipe is a direct homage to great Italian cooking. The classic combination of fresh lemon and nutmeg underscore the nutty Parmesan cheese, and the mildness of fresh mozzarella tempers the bite of the garlic and kale. Serve this with plenty of great pizza sauce.

Kale-Spinach Strombolli infused with Lemon and Nutmeg

Filling
1 lemon, very, very finely sliced (paper thin)
1 tsp nutmeg (or appx grated from a 1/4 fresh nutmeg)

1 Tbsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper (we use papaya seeds)
6 cups kale, chopped into small pieces
2 cups fresh spinach
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp fresh basil, sliced into thin strips
1 tbsp fresh oregano
pinch crushed red pepper

8 oz Part Skim or Fresh whole-milk mozzarella
8 oz really good parmesean cheese (we like block parmesean, freshly grated)

Gluten-Free Strombolli Dough
1.5 c warm water
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups Better Batter All Purpose flour or a really good cup-for-cup substitute
1 teaspoon salt
extra flour

Instructions
IN a heavy skillet, saute the filling ingredients. Meanwhile mix up the strombolli dough.

IN the bowl of your mixer, combine the water, yeast, sugar, oil, flour, and salt, and beat on high for three minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

On a baking sheet, lay out a sheet of parchment paper, and coat it with a layer of flour -- about 1/8 inch thick or a little thicker. Wet your hands and spread the dough batter out until it covers about a 9x13 inch area.

Top with 1/2 of the cheeses, then spread the filling mixture over the cheese, leaving an inch margin on all sides. Top with remaining 8 oz cheeses.

Take the edge of the parchment paper and flip it up so that the dough rolls over to touch the other side. You may want to be gentle doing this, so that your filling doesn't fly everywhere and your dough doesn't stick.

Wet your hands again and mush the edges of the strombolli together to seal, rolling up slightly.

Let rise on baking sheet about 30-45 minutes.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until golden brown. Let sit for five minutes before slicing open.

Variations on a Theme: Kale Spinakka

I come from a Sephardic Jewish Family on my dad's side, which means that I grew up eating some pretty amazing food. Sephardic Jewish Cookery is different than what most Americans think of as "Jewish" food -- much closer to Greek food, in some regards, or Spanish food. One of my favorite dishes, my grandmother's legacy, is a dish called spinakka.
Spinakka is essentially a spinach and cheese casserole, heavy on the cheese. Since I was overrun by Kale, I wondered if I could get away with slipping some well sauteed Kale into the dish without being caught out.

The Carnivore thought the dish was acceptable, though he's still of the mind that it's more properly a side-dish than a main course, but I thought it was hearty enough to stand on its own.

A side benefit? It's ridiculously easy to throw together.

Kale Spinakka

12 cups fresh kale, ribs cut out and cut into small pieces (about 2 pounds)
8 eggs, beaten
16 oz. grated/crumbled cheese (for best flavour used mixed cheeses: we like the combination of cheddar, parmesean, and feta cheeses)

2 tsp salt
1/2 c Better Batter Gluten Free Flour or a really good GF cup-for-cup substitute

Mix the kale, eggs, flour, cheeses, and salt in a large bowl.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan and add the kale mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, or until slightly golden brown on top. Let cool for five minutes and cut into squares.

Really Fresh Lasagne or: Hiding Beet Greens

So we're a part of a local organic CSA (community supported agriculture) coop, and we get all kinds of great veggies with our weekly share.


Sometimes great also is rather weird.

This week I received a ton of beet greens, thanks to thinning-the-rows. I know this is the reason because I've been thinning-the-rows of beets in my own garden...

As you can imagine we had a TON of beet greens. The Carnivore hates beet greens.

Lasagne to the rescue!

I was really nervous about this lasagne because it was the first lasagne that I've ever done completely vegetarian, and, frankly, the first one I'd made completely from scratch with really fresh ingredients. (our basil plants and herbs are misbehaving in a good way).

I'm glad I took the plunge because this lasagne was fabulous in a shoot-it-in-your-veins way. There was only a teeny bit left for lunch the next day, and we fought over that.

I'm posting the recipe. Feel free to substitute pre-made pasta noodles or sauce in your own, and be warned: Beet greens DO tend to bleed a bit into the ricotta and pasta... so a thicker sauce would help hide that.

REALLY Fresh Lasagne

1 pound pasta, preferably homemade
Leafy Layer
1 pound beet greens, or other leafy greens (spinach is great)
1 clove garlic finely minced
Extra Virgin Olive oil
pinch Nutmeg
Quick Tomato Sauce
six vine-ripe tomatoes
1/4 c fresh basil
2 tbsp fresh oregano
1 clove garlic
1 small spring onion (or one small onion)
3 fennel seeds (optional)
2 tsp salt (we use sea salt)
26 oz Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese (get one without fillers.)
16 oz Fresh, water-packed whole milk Mozzarella, grated. (It is really worth it.)

Instructions:
If making fresh pasta, cut the pasta into strips (at least 1/8th and no more than 3/8ths inch thick)

In a heavy skillet saute the beet greens, garlic, olive oil, and nutmeg until wilted. Set aside.

In your blender, blend the tomatoes, basil, oregano, garlic, onion, fennel seeds, and salt.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. put 1/2 of the tomato sauce. Add a layer of lasagne noodles, and top with 8 oz. mozzarella. Top with the sauteed beet greens. Spread the ricotta cheese over the greens. Add another layer of pasta. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce mixture and top with the remaining 8 oz. of cheese.

Cover very lightly with a greased sheet of foil (the idea is not to touch the top of the lasagne -- you're creating a tent) or parchment paper.

Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, removing the foil or paper the last 10 minutes.

Serve with salad and a nice crusty french-style bread.